The Legend of Wan
by MomoMouat97
Summary: Basically what the title states. My version of a novelized version of the Legend of Korra episodes "Beginnings Pt 1" and "Beginnings Part Two". First chapter is the prologue. Will be three-five chapters. Canon.
1. Nothingness

Prologue

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><p>The girl jolted into awareness, her eyes flashing open to a watery blue nothingness. Her mind was a complete and utter blank, her thoughts hitting dead ends wherever they travelled. The only things that made it through to her were feelings of unease, and confusion, mostly because no matter how hard she strained herself, she couldn't remember who she was, let alone where she was or what was going on.<p>

When she looked down at herself, she was glowing an odd off-purple color. She noted, with confusion, that her odd assortment of what looked like furs were swirling around her as if she was swaying in an unseen ocean current. The girl took a moment to take in the bright blue and white colors of her robes, contrasting with alternating shades of grey and brown. Deciding that she liked it, she then turned her attention to the empty waters around her, and got the sensation that she was no longer alone in this strange place she found herself in.

As she looked back up, a woman materialized in front of her, a brilliant turquoise color that illuminated the dark waters of wherever she was floating. She was wearing the exact same outfit that she herself appeared to be wearing, and her startling blue eyes seemed to penetrate deep into her very essence, even as a pale blue line of light appeared between the two as a separating divider.

"Who are you?" she asked, eying the newcomer with trepidation.

"I am you." The image responded, its voice identical to her own. She looked down in confusion, trying yet again and coming to the same conclusion that she couldn't remember who she was, or even her name. But, strangely, she didn't feel panicked at that. All she felt was an all-encompassing eerie calmness, soothing away her questions before they consumed her.

"Well…who am I?"

As she watched, the vision shimmered, coming back into focus as a different person; a middle aged man with bright blue tattoos and a brown beard. His expressive brown eyes stared right at her, seemingly seeing into her soul. The girl was sure that she had never seen this man before in her life, but he still looked oddly familiar and his appearance gave her a sense of comfort.

With his orange and red robes swirling around in the waters, he spoke, his deep voice echoing through the waters around the two of them.

"You…are the Avatar."

The girl felt a pang of confusion. "I don't know what that is." Her voice cracked with desperation, feeling for the first time a tinge of panic, her breathing escalating to the point of almost being hysteric. Not knowing anything was beginning to terrify her, and she was starting to get a dull sense of fear about the whole entire thing.

The image changed again, morphing into an elderly man, dressed in scarlet robes with a long white beard to match. On his head lay an elegantly carved hairpiece in the shape of a crescent moon, glinting in the strange light that seemed to overlay everything in the pool of whatever they were floating in.

"In order to remember," he spoke in a gravelly voice. "You must regain your connection with your Avatar spirit." There it was, the Avatar word again. Though she still had no idea what it stood for, the word was beginning to fill the girl with a sense of purpose and lost duty, giving her an odd sense of guilt about it all.

Before she could voice her confusion, a woman took his place, her stern features covered in shocking makeup that brought out the color of her vivid green robes.

"If you don't, darkness will engulf the world. You will die…and our era will end."

The girl's heart pounded. Whatever that meant, it certainly didn't sound good. And it seemed to her that somehow, the fate of the world lay solely on her shoulders, and it always would.

"How do I regain my connection?" A fifth and final hallucination appeared, a young man with a deep tan and robes the same color as her own. Of all of the visions, he seemed the most familiar and comforting to her, and she found herself relaxing slightly as he spoke in a deep baritone voice.

"Go back. Return to the beginning…find Raava."

Suddenly, without a seconds warning, she was being propelled backwards, her eyes squeezing shut at the shock of moving after remaining stationary for so long. Bubbles flew around her as she tumbled head over heels, her teeth gritted in discomfort. It felt like eons had passed when she finally came to a stop, bubbles rising around her with a fizzing sound.

When she opened her eyes, a bright ball of light appeared behind her, prompting her to turn around. Inside of it stood a young man in simple peasant robes and black hair. He certainly didn't look like a Raava to her, but who was she to know? She didn't even know her own name at this point.

Something about this man certainly intrigued the girl, however. For some reason unbeknownst to her, he seemed to radiate power and wisdom, despite his shabby appearance.

"Are you…Raava?" she asked, her voice filled with hesitation.

He smiled at her. "No, but I can help you find her. My name is Wan, and I will show you how I became the first Avatar." As he spoke, their eyes locked together, and the girl felt herself get sucked into another time and place. What she didn't know was she was going back to the very beginning, nearly ten thousand years ago in fact. And, at the same instant that the girl travelled back to the past with Wan, both pairs of their eyes glowed a startling, pure white.

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><p><strong>This is the prologue to a multichapter short story, revolving around the events of The Legend of Korra episodes "Beginnings Part one" and "Beginnings Part two". I do not know how many chapters it will be at this time, but it will be somewhere around three to five.<strong>


	2. The Chase

**Where I split the chapters will be based on how pauses in action sound together. One chapter may be 1000 words, another might be 3000.**

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><p>Wan sprinted through the bustling streets, a cloth bag of stolen food clutched in his hand as he ran away from the three Chou brothers, all chasing him with spears and furious expressions. The youngest and smallest of the three cried out angrily, "Nobody steals from the Chou brothers!"<p>

"Really?" Wan called back with a cocky grin on his face, taking a sharp corner without losing any of his speed. "Because…I just did."

The oldest Chou growled, raising his weapon menacingly as they closed in on the fleeing peasant. "You're dead, Wan!"

Wan reached the edge of one of the rooftops and turned around to face his pursuers, his back to the precipice. "Actually, I feel quite alive!" With that, he fell backwards off of the roof, grabbing onto a laundry-line below to break his fall before swinging onto a windowsill. The line had just sprung back into place when the brothers came barreling down at it, but instead of it breaking their fall like it had Wan's it just snapped off, falling gently on top of them after they crashed into the unforgiving ground below. A white sheet slowly covered the three of them just in time for Wan to jump down, using them as a landing pad.

Before they could react, he was sprinting left, already fading in the distance when the brothers yanked the sheet off of them angrily. The Chou's rushed after Wan as he zipped across a bridge, a startled flock of birds taking flight.

"Hey, stop!" the youngest Chou yelled, breaking off as bird droppings from the fleeing birds covered him and his brothers, to Wan's amusement. Taking advantage of their predicament, Wan took his leave, swinging across the rooftops and using a wooden bar to land safely on the other side of a wide gap. Gaining speed, he headed towards the ground, only stopping when he reached a deserted balcony. Grinning, he opened his bag, taking out a roll and licked his lips.

Wan opened his mouth to take a bite, only to be joined by the eldest Chou brother, his two younger ones not too far behind. He chuckled nervously as they scowled menacingly at him, clenching their spears furiously.

"Hey, fellas. You're just in time for…_lunch_!" He threw his roll at the biggest brother, knocking him over enough for Wan to leap over him. Before he could escape again, the other two tripped him, causing him to fall with a loud _oof!_, his bag of stolen food rolling away from him. He barely had time to roll over before the littlest Chou was in his face.

"I told you, no one steals from us."

With that, the eldest brother yanked Wan to his feet, not even giving him time to get his bearings before he threw him off the balcony and down the steep slope. Yelling in fear, Wan tumbled head over heels, landing in a muddy pig pen with a slurping sound.

"Gross!" he groaned, trying to wipe the mud off of his face, glancing at one of the pigs that had scooted closer, curious about the newcomer. Rolling his eyes, he set to work cleaning himself off, feeling guilty that he had no food for his friends to share that evening. It was nearly dusk by the time he made his way to their makeshift treetop home, swinging through the glassless window and landing in front of his friends.

Jaya sighed from his place nearest to the window. "Did you steal from the Chou's again?"

Wan gave a sound of disgust as he sat down next to him. "Yeah, and I got nothing to show for it except a few dirty rolls and a whole lot of bruises." From the inside lining of his robes, he took out the rolls he had managed to keep hidden, tossing one to his concerned friend before climbing to his feet and approaching a curtained area. "Hey, Yao, I got some food for you."

His friend eagerly accepted the roll, moving closer to the setting sun's light and illuminating the aspects of his features that had morphed into those of a tree from his times in the spirit wilds. Wan tried not to stare as he turned away, knowing that they made his friend uncomfortable enough without any unwanted attention.

"Mmm, delicious! Thank you, Wan."

As Wan made to sit down next to Jaya, a flurry of woodland creatures surged into the shabby house, stopping in front of the weary man. He chuckled as they begged him for a taste of his food, too cute to resist.

"You guys are hungry too, huh?" Instead of tearing into his meager dinner, he broke it all up into pieces for the hungry animals, much to the dismay of Jaya.

"Wan…you should eat."

"They need it more than I do. Besides…I'm tired of eating scraps." He reached behind Jaya to pour himself a cup of room temperature tea. "If only there was some way to get into the Chous' food cellar. We'd be eating like…well, like Chous!"

Jaya shook his head. "If Chou the Elder catches you sneaking into his palace, you'll end up dead. Or worse, he'll banish you to the Spirit Wilds."

Yao made a noise of fear from his place halfway behind the dark curtain. "No, don't get banished! You don't want nothing to do with those spirits! They'll get inside ya, scramble up your mind, turn ya into this!" Wan can barely make out Yao motioning frantically at his disfigured body. "A monster!" He buried his face in his hands, shaking his head back and forth, his terrible features casting ominous shadows across his otherwise untouched face.

Jaya turned back to Wan, his expression grim. "Don't do anything crazy, Wan. You just gotta accept the world is the way it is. Some people have power. Some people don't. And you don't."

Wan turned away from him looking thoughtful, and took a long sip of his tea. Setting it down, he smirked. "Not yet, anyway."


End file.
